Friday Apple Rumors: Samsung Scores Patent Win in Japan

Reversal in Japan: The patent infringement victory last week in a California court did not end Apple‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL[2]) worldwide fight with Samsung. A judge in Japan ruled in favor of the South Korean electronics giant[3] on Friday, finding that Samsung did not violate any Apple patents in its smartphones and tablets, Bloomberg reports. The Tokyo District Court judge ordered Apple to pay Samsung’s court costs. Apple had claimed that Samsung’s Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab and Galaxy SII infringed on its patents and asked for $1.3 million in damages in the lawsuit. The court also rejected an Apple request to halt sales of eight Samsung mobile devices in Japan. Samsung shares rallied on the decision.

CEOs in Patent Chat: With patent lawsuits producing mixed results around the world, Apple and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG[4]) have been in high-level talks over intellectual property rights[5], Reuters says. The discussions have included Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Larry Page. The two corporate technology chiefs had a direct phone conversation last week. Lower level executives are also communicating to try and find a way to resolve conflicting patent infringement claims. More direct talks between the CEOs are expected. During its litigation with Samsung, Cook took part in direct talks with Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung, but the discussions ended in failure. Google’s Motorola unit recently filed a new set of patent infringement claims against Apple with the U.S. International Trade Commission.

eBook Concessions: In order to settle the European Union’s antitrust investigation, Apple, Simon & Schuster, News Corp’s (NASDAQ:NWSA[6]) HarperCollins, France’s Lagardere SCA’s Hachette Livre and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck say they are willing to permit retailers to sell e-books at a discount for two years[7], Reuters noted. Apple has opted not to settle similar regulatory investigations by U.S. authorities, though Simon & Schuster, Hachette and HarperCollins negotiated settlements in the U.S. European regulators, who launched their investigation last year, are considering the proposal. The publishers allied themselves with Apple to counter heavy e-book discounts from Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN[8]), which uses a wholesale pricing model.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors[9] stories.

ruled in favor of the South Korean electronics giant: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/apple-loses-japan-patent-suit-against-samsung-on-syncing-content/2012/08/31/2569b0ca-f34c-11e1-b74c-84ed55e0300b_story.html